Gingerbread itself was first brought to Europe by Gregory of Nicopolis, an Armenian monk, when he traveled to France in 992. Bakers began making cakes and biscuits out of it for the next few centuries, but didn’t start shaping it into gingerbread men until the 1500s.
Believe it or not, the very first gingerbread men are credited to no less than Queen Elizabeth I, who was fond of having them created in the likeness of some of her most important guests at court. Naturally, what was popular with the queen became popular with her subjects, and since she was giving them to important guests from all over Europe, gingerbread men soon became a huge hit across the continent.